“Even in paradise, it's not good to be alone.”So goes a Yiddish proverb. I learned it recently from Rabbi Frank Tamburello, who is the rabbi of my congregation, the Westchester Community for Humanistic Judaism. He recently wrote an essay, which appears on the congregation’s web site, that explains why it is important for one to belong to a community.
Westchester county is home to many Jews, a substantial portion of whom is non-theistic. Why then do so few join our congregation? It seems secular Jews tend to consider themselves “lone wolves” who don’t belong anywhere. After all, in the bad old days, you were excommunicated if you dared to question religious dogma, as evidenced by the examples of Baruch Spinoza and Uriel Acosta. Nowadays, I think it’s primarily the low penetration of the message that there is another option for such Jews: Humanistic Judaism. While it’s been around since the 60’s, pretty much everyone I’ve talked to about it was genuinely surprised to hear that such a thing exists.
While my wife and I only started looking for a non-theistic congregation when we realized we have to do something about our kids’ Jewish education (and it was much harder back then, because our congregation did not have a web site), I am glad we found WCHJ not only for our kids’ sake, but because we love belonging to a community whose members have similar values to ours. While our services don’t include prayers, it’s such an exhilarating feeling to read portions of the service out loud as part of a chorus of fellow congregants.
If you are a Jew who’s an atheist, and agnostic, a deist, or a variation of the above, give Humanistic Judaism a chance. The Society for Humanistic Judaism website has a page that can help you find a community near you.
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